Inositol and Sugars in Adaptation of Tomato to Salt

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Abstract
Tomato plants subjected to 100 mM NaCl plus Hoagland nutrients exhibited a pattern of wilting, recovery of turgor and finally recovery of growth at a reduced level, which required 3 days. During the nongrowing, adaptation phase there were immediate increases in free hexoses and sucrose which declined to near control levels as growth resumed. There was a steady increase in myo-inositol content which reached its maximal level at the time of growth resumption. The myo-inositol level then remained elevated for the remainder of the experiment. myo-Inositol constituted 2/3 of the soluble carbohydrate in leaves and 3/4 of the soluble carbohydrate in roots of salt-adapted plants. Plants which were alternated daily between salt and control solutions accumulated less myo-inositol and exhibited less growth than the continuously salt-treated plants. In L. pennellii and in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive breeding lines selected from L. esculentum x L. pennellii BC1 and F8, myo-inositol content was highest in the most tolerant genotypes, intermediate in the normal cultivar and lowest in the sensitive genotype after treatment with salt.